"Is It All Worth It? To Start A New Life...?"
During last week's venture to witness Ridley Scott's 1979 science fiction masterpiece Alien on the big screen for the very first time as part of a special celebration and pre-amble of all things Xenomorph, this particular screening offered the chance to reconsider 2012's Prometheus too, a movie which although was impressive in terms of science fiction spectacle and scale, offering a wider insight into the history and lore of Scott's creation and of course a marvellous Michael Fassbender, suffers horrendously from a particularly immature narrative and dialogue which would rival George Lucas for worst science fiction babble. Whilst it is always great to watch historic films on the big screen once again, Prometheus still has a vast amount of problems and forms part of Ridley Scott's recent shabby record of cinematic releases which makes you wonder whether his early successes were part of some illustrious fluke, yet with a glass half full kind of mind, the release of Alien: Covenant is undeniably an exciting chance for Scott to finally get back on some sort of track, returning once again to a franchise which is as indestructible as it is financially bankable as well as offering closure to a prequel series which has threatened to cripple the legacy of a classic sci-fi series.
So the question remains; is Covenant a success? With a superbly created world and some interesting narrative swings, held together by some great central performances and juicy scenes of exploitation violence, Scott's latest does boast some enjoyable elements to a degree, but with a messy screenplay and an overarching sense of "we've been here before", it is with a melancholic heart that Covenant can only be regarded a major letdown, with the film seemingly battling to offer healthy amounts of fan service, with the inclusion of the Xenomorph ironically not as thrilling and terrifying as previous incarnations, with the continuation of the story which began in Prometheus, with Michael Fassbender once again the star of the show as the driving force of a second-half narrative which only adds more questions than answers in a way which is extremely unrewarding and unsatisfying. This tug of war between Alien and Prometheus is the fundamental issue underlying the messy fashion in which the story plays out and if it wasn't for the impressive visual demeanour and enjoyable performances from Fassbender and Waterston respectively, Covenant could be regarded as the weakest entry the Alien franchise has offered up yet and whilst Scott's love for this world is undeniable, Covenant adds substance to the argument that maybe it is time to leave the series alone for good, but with the film's impressive ending, such a notion is seemingly far from materialising anytime soon.
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